The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1887-02-19
AN IMPENDING EVIL.
Observations Upon the Annual Decrease
in the Number of Marriages.

in the Number OF Marriages.
A social reformer, who is as precise
in his statements of facts rs he Is expert
in the manipulation Of figures, reports
rs the result of the investigation that
the number of marriages is decreasing
every year. We have just cause for
alarm il the report is true. Certainly
the choice of wife Is a subject full OF
piquant attraction to romantic young
man who has sown his wild oats and is
saving his earnings and longs for the
comfort and slippcred ease of u home
of his own. The difficulties of court
ship, however, are perplcxing, arduous
and real. In Knickerbockcr times the
knot was securely tied after q bluff
proposal and the young married couple
were ready to start housekeeping with
barrel of potatoes, blunderbuss and
family Bible. Then life was idyllic
and full of romance and song. But
tcmpora nautantur and they change for
the worse, in most respects. No longer
do the married pair ilutter through
life on wings of romance. The chief
bond of interest that unite young lovers
in this mercenary age is u Government
four per cent. The domestic tie is so elas-
tic, divorces so easily procurable, the
feminine heart is so tickle withal, that
eligible young men feel morbidly shy
about exposing themselves to the mat
rimonial moose and would as soon
think of slipping halter around the
neck.
The rule Of woman in masculine at
tire and common sense shoes is not q
pleasant spectacle to contemplate. But
If the girls of the Republic are not mar
ried off in some way, old maids of the
most virulent type, in various stages OF
physical decline, will be clamoring for
their rights with exceeding vigor and
persistency, and who knows whether
there will be enough green tea and
scandal left to go around? Already
the census table shows deplorable in
crease in their number. They are or
ganizng crusades against the mos
cherished institutions of mankind.
If for no other reasons than the above
human ingenuity should devise som'
method of facilitating proposals ant
tightening the love knot so there cal
be no escape. Cynics scoff at the mar
ital relations. Idle ilirtations are de
stroying the confidence of young peo
pie of romantic temperament in ON
another. Sir George Campbell has en-
deavored to prove that there is no sucl
thing as love; that it is q psychological
delusion. So long as these ideas pre-
vail, no easy-going youth will feel lik'
sacrificing the frolic and fun of Bo
hemia for the martyrdom of the do
mestic circle. But legislation can rec
tify the evil. The lawmakers shoul
take the matter in hand. They cal
make courtship civic duty which tn
individual owes to society, and enforc
: it by law. Were men who persist i
remaining single disfranchised and di
vested of their property, and wer
women who refused to marry shut II
in converts and denied access to til
fashion magazines, the aggressive typ
of maiden lady who delights in agita
,, ing social and political reforms, woul
gradually disappear and an ominou
evil would be averted, an evil that Il
sensible people would seriously deplor
= Harold Van SantroOrd, IN Life.